Saturday, 4 February 2012

To this point in my life I have gone through about every phase of fitness that one could possibly do...
-Bodybuilding
-Strongman
-Olympic Lifting
-And even Crossfit...

This morning I got my first taste into the world of powerlifting and was again humbled by the fact that no matter how athletic you are, each domain has its own set of characteristics and techniques that totally defeat your body physically and mentally. I got the opportunity to train with long time friend and assistant strength coach at Robert Morris University, Paul Oneid. Paul is an avid powerlifter and beyond knowledgable strength coach. Today I was the trainee and Paul played trainer. This really set me back and made me think of a few things.

For those interested in strength & conditioning as a career, no matter how many books you read and no matter how much theory and terminology you can memorize, you will NEVER be useful to your athletes if you do not have hands on experience in the weight room. Your athletes will never respect you if you have never been under a heavy bar before, if they never see you in the weight room grinding it out and if they see you training in a way that contradicts everything you've ever told them. This is why a practical setting is perfect for learning and bettering yourself as a strength coach. You can throw facts and stats at your athletes but they do not give a shit-nor do they want to relive your physiology and anatomy classes. SHOW THEM. Demonstrate, and work with them.

This morning was a great time to learn new movements, new techniques and apply them practically to my own training and to bettering my athletes-so I thank Paul for that.

Secondly, after finishing our workout we began discussing the time commitments and focus we both put into strength and conditioning as well as school. Paul has numerous 16+ hour days on campus starting at 5:45am every morning on top of dual masters degrees, one of which he is currently finishing. In my case, juggling 25+ hours of class a week, the University football program and currently assisting in CFL combine preparation leading to days ranging from 6:45am-8pm. Along with the TWM company that takes an enormous amount of time and precedent in my life. This then started a debate with some football players who argued that we should be compensated for this with Paul quoting that until you have something to offer someone, you are not worth a thing. He had interned for two and a half years before being compensated. It was then brought up that the second you think you know so much you don't need to learn, you're not of value to anyone. This point is extremely valid and humbling to hear from someone with as many certifications, experience and two masters degrees in the area. "I still don't know shit!"-the truth is you are constantly learning and striving to be the best you can for your athletes because the truth is I do not care what anyone else does with their guys, but mine will never suffer the misfortune of being led astray due to laziness and lack of knowledge, passion and wanting to see them succeed.

Great day of training-looking forward to working with some of my athletes back home prepping them for an upcoming combine event and also seeing our Queen's University CFL combine athletes kill it in a month.